Technology companies led U.S. stocks lower Wednesday, giving the market its biggest loss since early September.

Grocery stores and packaged foods and beverage companies also accounted for much of the decline. Energy stocks fell as the price of crude oil closed lower a day after its biggest loss since October. Banks and phone companies eked out modest gains.

The latest slide extended the market’s losses from a day earlier and added to its pullback in November. Fewer stocks and sectors have been notching gains this month, and the latest market decline reflects that, noted Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Baird.

“And that’s exemplary of a market that’s losing momentum, and that’s the real story here,” Bittles said. “It means the market is struggling here, and it could mean that a lot of the good news on the economy, earnings and even the potential for a tax-reform bill are to a great extent already built into current prices.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 14.25 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,564.62. The Dow Jones lost 138.19 points, or 0.6 percent, to 23,271.28. Nasdaq slid 31.66 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,706.21. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 7.16 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,464.09.

The major indexes are all in the red for the month, but still near their most recent record highs. Stocks were headed lower from the get-go on Wednesday as investors weighed a batch of new government data on inflation, retail sales and manufacturing.

Investors were keeping an eye on Washington, where Senate Republicans began pushing a tax overhaul that would slash corporate taxes.

But the Senate measure was complicated by the last-minute inclusion of a repeal of the section of the Affordable Care Act that requires Americans to buy health insurance.

The legislative push also appeared to hit a snag Wednesday, when Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he opposes his party’s tax bill, saying it helps corporations more than other businesses.

A sell-off in high-yield bonds may be another potential red flag for the market. An exchange-traded fund that tracks high-yield bonds, the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF, has declined 2.2 percent since Oct. 24 and is at its lowest level since March.